A conventional double-lock electrical connector comprises an insulating housing having a plurality of contact receiving cavities defined by isolation walls and a double-lock member to be mounted on the insulating housing in perpendicular relationship to the longitudinal direction of the contact receiving cavities. The double-lock member has contact insertion openings corresponding to the contact receiving cavities in the insulating housing. In such a double-lock electrical connector, the double-lock member is brought into a preliminary locking position relative to the insulating housing before being moved to a final locking position. In this manner, each contact is locked by a locking member within the respective contact receiving cavity as well as by the double-locking member, thereby achieving double locking of the contact for assured retention.
In a double-lock electrical connector, a housing of a matable connector may not always mate straightly. That is, the matable connector tends to mate in a slanted manner, thereby making the mating operation difficult or time consuming. In order to overcome this problem, there is proposed a double-lock electrical connector having an insulating housing and a double-lock member formed with guide grooves for guiding ribs on the housing of a matable connector, thereby achieving smooth mating of the matable connector.
Unfortunately, however, the double-lock member is typically made from plastic material by injection molding. Thinned portions of the molded double-lock member's guide grooves are cooled faster than the other portions of the double-lock member. Thus non-uniform cooling of the double-lock member exists. On the other hand, if designed to achieve uniform cooling for minimizing deformation, no guide grooves can be formed.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a double-lock electrical connector provided with a double-lock member for improved mating operation and minimum deformation.